Maryland Business

What’s so great about Wegmans Food Markets? According to a recent report by Fortune magazine, the mega-grocer and specialty foods store has never laid off an employee.

That’s good news for Marylanders, who are awaiting the opening of a Wegmans in Columbia in June, with additional plans for a store in Owings Mills.

“When Wegmans Food Markets has to eliminate a position, they make sure they find the displaced employee another job that they will be passionate about within the company,” the report said.

“When their Britton Road store in Rochester, N.Y. closed last summer, they offered all of the store’s employees a job at another location in the same city. Within two weeks, all 250 employees from the Britton Road store knew exactly what they were going to be doing.”

The Rochester, N.Y.-based chain opened a store in Hunt Valley in 2005 and another in Abingdon in mid-September. There are also locations in Lanham and Frederick.

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Ellen Valentino agrees with Gov. Martin O’Malley: Maryland business needs fewer regulations.

In a statement addressing the governor’s State of the State address Wednesday, Valentino, the state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said the average small business spends $10,500 per year, per employee, in order to comply with federal regulations.

“We can only imagine that the state costs mirror federal compliance, and the irony of it is that federal and state regulations are duplicative, or even conflicting,” she said.

O’Malley, who in October issued an executive order for agencies to assess ways to streamline the state’s regulatory processes, reiterated the call in his speech Wednesday.

“This session, we are submitting 750 pages of regulations for you to reform, reduce and remove from the books,” he said.

That equals “more than 150 current state regulations to be repealed and/or streamlined,” according to the governor’s website.

“If the governor’s initiative can reduce the burden in terms of money [spent] and time wasted, we’ll see positive results in the economy,” Valentino said.

Less appealing are the governor’s proposed tax hikes.

“Small businesses and consumers are struggling in this economy, and the governor’s heavy emphasis on higher taxes is disappointing,” she said.

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In an effort to cut costs and maintain the right level of staffing during busy hours,  Walmart has removed greeters from its 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. Over the past six months, the company has been reassigning these people to other positions, such as stocking shelves and manning cash registers.

The majority were able to find positions within the same store or another one close by, said company spokeswoman Ashley Hardie.

“Same-store sales at Walmart’s namesake U.S. locations declined for nine straight quarters before snapping the streak with a 1.3 percent gain for the quarter ended in October,” according to a report by Bloomberg.

Greeters have been a 32-year tradition at Walmart. The superstore chain has more than 3,000 locations nationwide and 45 stores in Maryland, including 16 Supercenters, which are typically open 24/7.

What do you think — will you miss someone standing at the door when you come in for a midnight snack?

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A Mt. Vernon landmark restaurant that closed down could be open again by spring and three annual coin shows threatened to leave Baltimore if Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget eliminates their tax breaks. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Brass Elephant could reopen by spring – by Melody Simmons

The “old lady” is coming back.

Baltimore’s historic Brass Elephant restaurant could reopen as early as spring with new owners, a real estate agent said Wednesday.

Workers were busy Wednesday inside the Mt. Vernon landmark checking the restaurant’s kitchen and operating systems, and the sale could close within 30 days, said Martin Kibbe, a ReMax Studio Realtor who listed the upscale eatery.

2. Coin show threatens to leave Baltimore over O’Malley budget – by Nicholas Sohr

An Atlanta company threatened to uproot three annual coin shows from Baltimore and move them out of state Thursday after Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to cut a tax break for precious coins and bullion sales.

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Call it the “old hat” syndrome.

That’s the likeliest explanation for why prices for AFC Championship game tickets on StubHub, an online ticket market place, are lower than those for the NFC Championship game.

As of 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, for $180 on StubHub, fans could see the Baltimore Ravens take on the New England Patriots for the AFC title at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The most expensive seats were going for $2,895.

Tickets for the NFC title game, which has the New York Giants taking on the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco started at $309 on StubHub, with two tickets topping out at $20,000.

“Fans haven’t been waiting as long for an AFC Champ[ionship] in Foxborough as they have in San Francisco,” said Joellen Ferrer, spokeswoman for StubHub.

The last NFC Championship game at Candlestick Park was in 1998, when the 49ers took on the Green Bay Packers. The Patriots played for the AFC title at home in 2008 and 2004.

But Ravens fans will be holding their ground in Foxborough this Sunday. More than 2,000 AFC Championship tickets have been purchased through StubHub, with Marylanders counting for 29 percent of the purchases, Ferrer said. Bay Staters came in at 26 percent. Buyers from Connecticut, New York and Ontario are also scooping up tickets, at 7, 5 and 3 percent, respectively.

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Lots of news from the General Assembly this week as the 90-day session began, and the Baltimore Ravens’ first home playoff game in five years means big things for local merchandise retailers. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Tremont Plaza to become apartments — by Melody Simmons

Baltimore’s Tremont Plaza Hotel will soon convert back to its original purpose: apartments.

The 390-suite property’s owners said Monday the rooms would soon be altered into apartments and long-term stay places.

Five members of the hotel’s sales staff were laid off on Friday after the renovations were announced, said Carol Chatham, a spokeswoman for the hotel’s owner, William C. Smith + Co. of Washington, D.C.

2. Miller, Busch consider different approaches for transportation – by Nicholas Sohr

Maryland’s top legislative leaders agree the state needs to spend more on transportation projects but they’re not willing to go along with the proposed 15-cent gasoline tax hike over three years.

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Johns Hopkins made big news this week with the announcement of its new medical school dean, but they are also seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit over a life sciences complex in Montgomery County. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Rothman named dean of Hopkins medical school, CEO of health system - by Nicholas Sohr

Paul B. Rothman, the next dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, will take the helm as the future of American health care remains all but inscrutable beyond the next election and major Supreme Court decision.

Rothman described a “a time of turmoil” at his introductory news conference Monday, referring to attempts to overturn President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and a week’s worth of Supreme Court arguments on the law set for March.

2. Marchers demand jobs at EBDI – by Melody Simmons

Chanting “We want jobs” and “If we don’t work, nobody works,” about 200 city residents marched on East Baltimore Development Inc. headquarters Tuesday, demanding more employment opportunities at the 88-acre redevelopment site.

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As a side benefit to its May 27 purchase of StarTex Power, Constellation Energy Group is now the official naming sponsor of the Sugar Land Skeeters’ new minor league baseball stadium in Texas.

The Sugar Land City Council on Tuesday approved the name change of StarTex Power Field to Constellation Field, reflecting the change in ownership for Houston-based StarTex. Constellation agreed to buy StarTex Power, a retail electric provider with approximately 170,000 customers, in May for $142.5 million.

“Constellation’s merger with StarTex enhances an already strong partnership,” said Matt O’Brien, President of the Sugar Land Skeeters. “Adding more resources and community initiatives while maintaining local relationships will only bring greater good for Skeeters baseball and the entire Sugar Land community.”

The Skeeters, an expansion team debuting in April, will play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a minor league system not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The team will be the first in the league not located in the Mid-Atlantic. (The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of Waldorf and Lancaster (Pa.) Barnstormers are also in the league.)

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